French classics

A young traveller's belief that everything happens for good meets war, disaster and persecution across an unfamiliar world.

A country doctor's wife pursues the passion and luxury she imagined through romantic novels, turning beyond her marriage.

A former prisoner tries to rebuild his life and care for Cosette while an inspector pursues him.

A young sailor imprisoned through conspiracy escapes and returns under a new identity to seek revenge.

A student seeking entry into Parisian society lives beside a father who has given his wealth to his daughters.

A young machinist finds work among coal miners whose families face hunger as they go on strike.

An aspiring musketeer befriends three swordsmen whose loyalty draws him into secret missions and the competing interests of court.

A gentleman with exact daily habits sets off with his new servant to circle the globe within eighty days.

Childhood summers, family routines and memories awakened by a madeleine meet a jealous love affair in this exploration of desire.

A married noblewoman at the French court weighs her love for another man against her vows and moral principles.

Two giants encounter scholars, monks, rulers and fools amid adventures involving learning, religion, war and ways of living.

A merchant's daughter lives with a frightening beast and learns to judge a host whose appearance makes her afraid.

Children, princesses and younger sons face dangerous strangers, spells and sudden changes of fortune in tales of magic and cunning.

A giant visitor and his companion encounter human thinkers whose tiny bodies contrast with their claims about the universe.

A courtesan and her younger lover confront their attachment when his mother arranges for him to marry.

A father's determination to protect his wealth and arrange marriages clashes with his children's wishes to marry for love.

A swordsman and poet helps another man court the woman he loves by supplying words his rival cannot find.

A philosopher questions accepted beliefs and his own education in search of a foundation for certain knowledge.

Reflections on restlessness, uncertainty and the limits of reason build an argument for Christian belief.

Scenes of waking, silence and life beside the sea become occasions for poems exploring how thought meets the world.